PITTSBURGH, PA – OCTOBER 23: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots huddles with teammates during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on October 23, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

All anybody really wants to know about the NFL is who’s better than who. We’re now seven weeks into the 2016 season, and the answer to that question seems a bit clearer. Yet still, so many questions remain. Which teams are true contenders, which ones were early flashes, and who’s going to emerge in the second half of the season?

Take the analysis, previews, breakdowns and smack talk, and it boils down to a simple hierarchy: If any two given teams played, who’d win? That’s what power rankings are all about, and that’s how the 32 NFL teams are slotted here each week.

32. Cleveland Browns
The poor Browns have had to use six different quarterbacks in seven games. They have not won any of those games.

31. Jacksonville Jaguars
A not-that-close, 33-16 loss to the Oakland Raiders puts the kibosh on any mid-season revival talk. At this point, the Jags aren’t just in danger of repeating last year’s 5-11 record, they’re in danger of doing worse. Unthinkable, given how much talent they added in the offseason.

30. San Francisco 49ers
If they aren’t going to beat a middling Tampa Bay Buccaneers team at home, they aren’t going to beat very many teams going forward. The 31st-ranked defense is absolutely decimated.

29. Chicago Bears
Hey, the Bears are doing surprisingly well, right? They’re all piling up yards and stuff? And getting Jay Cutler back? And they beat… wait, they only beat the Lions? They’re 1-6? Woof. That’s brutal.

About Ty Schalter

Ty Schalter is thrilled to be part of The Comeback. A member of the Pro Football Writers of America, Ty also works as an NFL columnist for Bleacher Report and VICE Sports, and regular host for Sirius XM’s Bleacher Report Radio. In another life, he was an IT cubicle drone with a pretentious Detroit Lions blog.